12 days of Christmas: baking

I've been enjoying looking through all my cookbooks finding new recipes to try this holiday season. I'm challenging myself to post 12 of those recipes here on the blog. First up is White Chocolate-Cranberry Biscotti. I love biscotti. When Ryan and I were hanging out in Salida on Friday we went to a bakery in town and they had a basket full of huge biscotti. I have about a dozen biscotti recipes earmarked, but I'm sort of on a cranberry kick these days so I decided to try these first.
White Chocolate-Cranberry Biscotti
from Taste of Home: Cookies & Bars

1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar (the recipe calls for 1 cup, but it was plenty sweet with 3/4 c.)
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
3/4 c. dried cranberries
3/4 c. white chocolate chips
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in cranberries and white chips. Divide dough into 3 portions.
On ungreased baking sheets, shape each portion into a 10 by 2 inch rectangle. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a cutting board; cut diagonally with a serrated knife into 1 inch slices. Place cut side down on baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 2 1/2 dozen.


Mason wanted to help me stack the biscotti. When I got the camera and told him to smile he said, "they can't smile mom, they don't have teeth!" I said, "yeah, you're right." He then said, "mommy didn't know?" Ha!